Code Geass: Lelouch of the XCOM
by nphillips0115
Summary: A secre from his mother’s past leads Lelouch into a battle against not only Britannia, but a threat from beyond Earth. Can Zero defeat both foes?
1. Prologue

**AN: Okay, I am actually doing this. Yay!**

**XXXXXXXXX**

Lelouch examined the arm brace. By the looks of it, there wasn't anything special about the device - in fact, it looked incredibly unbecoming for even a commoner to wear, to say nothing of a member of the royal family. It looked more like something the Ashford family had created in their spare time which, according to the servant who had brought it to him, it was.

Turning to face said servant, Lelouch finally decided to voice his thoughts.

"Are you sure this was my mother's?"

"Yes," replied the girl, her voice filled with certainty. "She insisted either you or Nunnally have it, should she pass away. I know not if you will return from Japan, so please, take it with you."

"Does the Emperor approve of me taking it?"

"...I am not sure he even knows that it exists - I was forbidden by your mother to tell anyone about this device."

Lelouch was stunned by this. "Are you serious?"

"I would not lie, my prince. But we have dallied long enough. I will leave you to make your final preparations for your departure to Japan. Please, stay safe."

"...Of course."

XXXXXXXXX

SEVERAL MONTHS LATER

Lelouch glared at the destruction around him. Buildings were devastated, craters filled the streets, and all around, bodies littered the battlefield.

All of this, because of his father. He and Nunnally had been sent to live as hostages in Japan, as bargaining tools between the island nation and Britannia. The two had stayed with the Kururugi family, whose patriarch had been Prime Minister of this country. In the days that had followed, the siblings had been treated with suspicion, though in time, they had befriended the Prime Minister's son, Suzaku, and also acquired the respect of the man known as Taizo Kirihara. Even Suzaku's father, Genbu, had eventually come to trust them.

Alas, it was not to be. Britannia had long set its eye's on acquiring Japan as an area, in order to secure its supplies of Sakuradite - a rare mineral usable as a superconductor. Japan had possessed approximately seventy percent of the world's supply, and had used this fact to leverage negotiations with foreign powers so that these agreements inevitably favored the Japanese. In fact, that was likely the reason that Lelouch and Nunnally had been sent here - as part of an agreement for more Sakuradite. Of course, Britannia would never be satisfied until_ they_ were the masters of Sakuradite, and by extension, the dominant world power. Thus, three montsh ago, they had declared war upon the island nation, leading to massive conflict all over the Pacific. Japan had not fared well - Britannia had deployed a new weapon of war, the knightmare frame, developed based off of research done by the Ashford family, and greenlit after his own mother had piloted the test model, the Ganymede. Japan had been utterly annihilated in the ensuing conflict, and within one week of Britannia landing forces on the home islands, the nation had surrendered. Only once had they won a battle against the Britannians, and it had been quite costly.

Now, the survivors were scattered - Lelouch was aware that Suzaku's father had died, apparently committing suicide in protest over do or die resistance. Lelouch found that unlikely - the man had seemed utterly aghast to the idea when the fighting had started. As for Suzaku himself, Lelouch was unaware of his fate - secretly, though, he hoped the boy was still alive. Japan's military had scattered, but while the nation had surrendered, its warriors had not, and were now waiting for their chance to reclaim their home.

None of this mattered to Lelouch, though - right now, he was trying to carry his sister to safety. He had no intention of returning to the Empire that had abandoned him to die. Instead, he was heading to a building that was apparently owned by Kirihara - the man had promised to shelter the two royals, after which they would fight a new way to hide from their erstwhile family.

As Lelouch prepared to carry his sister further, though, he noticed something that caught him off guard: standing a few meters South of the siblings was Britannian man. Not a solider, mind you, just a regular person. His appearance suggested an average office worker, which made his presence here all the stranger, as Britannia had yet to set up any industries here - they were still converting Japan into 'Area Eleven'.

"Who are you?" questioned the prince, unsure as to why the man was staring at him, which also unnerved the boy.

"U-um, my name is William Reese. I was supposed to be helping clean the devastation in this area, but unfortunately, my uniform and equipment did not get shipped with me."

"Really?" questioned Lelouch, not buying his explanation for a minute.

"Yeah, really...hey, where'd you get that brace?" questioned the man.

"Why are you asking?"

"Well, um, one of the soldiers who dropped me off here said that they were looking for something like that. Said it was some kind of weapon made by the...elevens."

The prince couldn't help but feel offended at the flimsiness of the justification. "Funny, because this belonged to my mother...and I received it in the homeland."

"Well, um, maybe they stole a copy from the Homeland and made their own-"

"Look out behind you! It's an Eleven Terrorist!"

Instantly, the man turned around, searching for the imaginary assailant, giving the prince the perfect opening to grab his sister and bolt. He didn't get far, though, he felt something bowl into the two of them. Without letting go of Nunnally, Lelouch turned to find the man right next to him, now staring him in the eyes. Now that they were closer, Lelouch could make out more details regarding the man's attire - namely, that he was wearing a uniform that read 'Advent'.

"Alright, listen kid, I need the brace. If you don't give it up, then I will call the army and claimed you attacked me. I'm pretty sure they'll go easy on you, but you never know."

Lelouch responded by spitting in the man's face.

"Alright, well, you asked for it-"

Before the man could retaliate, Lelouch swung his right arm at the worker...which caused the brace to course with electricity. Upon contact, the man was electrocuted, causing him to reflexively drop the boy.

"Big brother, what' happening?!" cried Nunnally, confused and terrified at events she could not see.

"Nothing, don't you worry, Nunnally-"

Suddenly, Lelouch froze up, as did Nunnally. Around Lelouch, the whole world just seemed to stop, while his ears only perceived silence. For Nunnnally, the affect was the same, though obviously, she did not see anything.

_'Where...am...I?'_

"Who are you?" questioned Lelouch, a statement echoed by his sister.

_'I could...ask the same...of you.'_

"I am Prince Lelouch vi Britannia!"

_'Ah...so that must mean...that you are...Lady Marianne's son.'_

"You knew our mother?!" exclaimed Nunanlly, absolutely stunned.

_'I did, but right now, there is something I need you to do.'_

"What?" questioned the boy.

_'First, look at the man you just pnched.'_

Confused and suspicious, Lelouch did just that...and instantly regretted his decision.

The was had just started to recover, but suddenly, he had gone into convulsions. Then, without warning, he had swollen up like a balloon, whilst his features had...well, they sloughed off. Slowly, whathad once been the man stood up, and when it finally regained its footing, it turned its attention toward the two siblings.

The two red eyes stared at the boy with hatred beyond imagination.

"W-w-what the hell is that?!"

_'An alien, and I do believe it is looking for me. Oh, and before you ask, it will probably kill you and your sisters even if you hand me over - no witnesses.'_

"Well, then how do I survive this? I don't plan on dying just yet!"

_'Close your yees.'_

"wh-"

_'JUST DO IT!'_

Reluctantly, the prince obeyed.

_'Now, hold out your right hand.'_

Lelouch acquiesced.

_'Now focus. Imagine that there was amazing power at your finger tips. Do it!'_

The prince complied. All the while, the blob monsters advanced toward him. Yet as it came closer, Lelouch felt...calm - as if he had never been better.

_'If you want to peak, you can do so.'_

Lelouch did just that, and was shocked to see a purple light coming from his palm.

_'Now, before you lose your concentration, push out toward the beat in front of you.'_

The prince did just that, and to his shock, a beam of purple light shot form his hand, collided with the monster, and slammed it into a nearby wall. When it finally fell to the ground, the prince could see smoke rising off of it, and was confident that it couldn't get up.

'_Nice job. Now, I believe I owe you some answers, but first, I must ask one last question.'_

"Say it."

_'Where are you headed?'_

"To meet with Taizo Kirihara."

_'Kirihara? Excellent. He can help me explain things to you.'_

"He knows you?"

_'Indeed he does. Oh, and for future reference-'_

Without warning, blue light shot out of the brace as a ghostly blue figure began to take form, until he was staring at the vi Britannia siblings in full.

"Call me….Asaru."

XXXXXX

**And thus I begin a crossover between one of my favorite Anime and one of my favorite games.**

**Just a heads up, here's what the brace looks like.**

**Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go to bed. More info tomorrow.**

**Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!**


	2. 1 The New World

**SEVEN YEARS LATER...**

Lelouch smiled as he moved the last piece into place. His opponent, meanwhile, could only stare on in shock, unable to comprehend as to how he had lost. At least his pride kept him from backing out of his end of the bargain, though - he paid in full.

Beside him, his best friend, Rivalz, was chuckling. "I_ love_ playing against the nobility! When they lose they always pay out of pride. By the way, eight minutes and thirty seconds is a new record!"

"He also didn't have much time to move either. And as opponents go, the nobles are tepid. They're just overprivileged parasites, that's all."

"Well then, why don't we challenge one of those elevens? They're nothing like us Britannians!"

Lelouch never got the chance to answer the question, for at that moment, a public service announcement aired through all of Area Eleven. On every available screen, the Viceroy, Prince Clovis la Britannia, made an appearance. The man decried a terrorist attack that had happened the previous day, which had cost eight Britannians their lives. Notably, though, he neglected to mention that the attack had also killed fifty one Japanese people, or 'Elevens' as they were now called.

'What a bunch of lies', thought the former eleventh prince of Britannia. He highly doubted that Clovis was truly in pain from the attack. It wouldn''t even surprise the boy if his elder brother was at a party, merely putting on appearances for the sake of the masses - Clovis had been the best of his siblings at acting.

"Well, aren't you going to join in?" questioned Rivalz, referring to the moment of silence Clovis had requested for the deceased.

"Aren't you?"

The blue haired boy could only chuckle in response. "It's sort of embrassing."

"And I agree with you. Besides, spilling tears over those people won't bring them back to life, now will it?"

"Damn, that's dark buddy."

"It's all about self-satisfaction. It doesn't matter how hard you try, you can't do it, there's no way you can change the world."

_'At least, that's what I used to think.'_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The two drove through the freeway in near silence, occasionally trading words over questions on their personal lives and their futures. As the neared a turn, though, Lelouch's phone suddenly vibrated, indicating he'd received a text message.

Curious, the former prince took out the device and examined the message.

It was from Asaru.

Instantly, Lelouch was on the alert.

'See the news lately?' questioned the alien.

'Why wouldn't I?'

'Fair enough. Listen, we just got a new lead - looks like some terrorist cell just stole something from one of Clovis' military bases.'

'How does this concern us?'

'Whatever they stole, the X-Rays want it. We found some plans indicating they were planning on raiding the base, and that their ADVENT front tried and failed to acquire samples 'legitimately'. Might be a break that we need.'

'Understood. Anything else I should know?'

'One of our own is affiliated with the resistance cell. He's hospitalized, but he can confirm that he knows the ones who performed the theft.'

'I see. Can you give me the real-time location of their vehicle.'

'Done.'

A moment later, and Lelouch was treated to a rapidly changing map, centered over a moving object - obviously the vehicle carrying whatever the terrorists had stolen. Carefully, Lelouch examined the street names, only stopping briefly to talk to Rivalz and indicate he was merely playing a game on his phone - something Asaru had roped him into doing a few times. Who knew an unfathomably old alien enjoyed video games?

As they made their way around a cruve, though, Lelouch noticed something odd about the roads - it appeared the path the terrorists were taking would coincide with his own-

"WE'RE GONNA DIE!"

Rivalz exclamation was not without cause, as the two students only barely avoided a collision with the truck, which subsequently swerved off into a construction site and crashed. Within moments, a crowd had gathered around the crash, with Lelouch among the crowd. Rivalz, meanwhile, was trying to get his motorcycle restarted.

The former eleventh prince watched on with annoyance as people began taking out their phones to try and photograph the accident, with none thinking to either check on the occupants of the vehicle or at least call an ambulance. Sighing, Lelouch made his way toward the cargo truck, eventually using a ladder on the side of the vehicle to get inside. As he called out to see if the drivers were alright, though, his vision suddenly changed.

Now, he found himself staring down a multicolored tunnel, whilst a woman spoke out to him.

_"It's you. Finally I have found my.."_

_"What? Where?"_

Before Lelouch could question any further, his vision returned to normal. Unfortunately, that was the exact same moment the drivers finally recovered, and the promptly pulled away and resumed their retreat.

Lelouch could only cry out in shock, realizing he was now trapped in the truck with no way to escape. Wouldn't someone have though to put a ladder inside the vehicle.

Also, what was he going to tell Rivalz? And Nunnally?

….Lelouch put those thoughts aside for a moment - he'd figure out how to escape first, then deal with his best friend and his sister.

Overhead, he could here the blades of a helicopter, or in this case, several. A moment later, demands were made for the vehicle to come to a halt, followed by the sound of gunfire.

Now Lelouch was truly worried - if the military found him, he would surely be identified as a member of the royal family, and forced to return to the fold, something he_ refused_ to do. True, there were still a few of his half siblings he still cared about, among them Euphemia, Cornelia, Clovis, Laila, and Marrybel, but he would_ never_ return to the man who had treated his mother's death with indifference. Not in any lifetime.

Realizing he had no other option, Lelouch hastily pulled out his phone and readied to sed out a distress signal - that way, certain 'friends' of his would be able to locate him and pull him out of the fire. Of course, he'd have a lot of explaining to do, especially to Nunnally - after all, she was also acquainted with his 'friends'.

Before he could send the signal, however, the door to the front of the truck opened, forcing him to hide. A moment alter, a red haired girl made her way into one of the red compartments, revealing a knightmare frame, of all things - a Glasgow, to be exact. It took up all of the space not occupied by the so called 'poison gas' canister, and within moments, it had shot out into battle.

Yet while the girl ultimately proved herself to be a surprisingly skilled pilot, there was only so much that she could do - especially since the military had called in its own knightmares...all of which were at least two generations ahead of the Glasgow. Lelouch briefly caught a glimpse of her engaging a Sutherland before a second one forced the driver to veer off course, and from the sound of it, the knight had also managed to injure him.

Sighing, Lelouch activated the distress signal. Hopefully, he would be found.

XXXXXXXX

Nunnally flinched when she heard the alarm start to beep. She had just gone back to her room to get a few things before the afternoon classes started, when suddenly, an alert had appeared on her brother's computer - one that could only mean one thing: he was in danger.

And considering just who was meant to receive the alert, it was fairly likely that what ever was troubling was_ very_ dangerous.

"Do not worry, Lady Nunnally. A team is being dispatched to retrieve your brother right now," spoke a familiar voice. Turning to face the screen, Nunally found herself looking at the face of a certain blue, glowing, spectral alien.

"Are you sure?"

"I promise, your highness. And I have never broken my word, nor do I intend to start now."

XXXXXX

"Attention, Strike Seven: Your mission is to retrieve Lelouch Lamperouge and the contents of the truck at all costs. If possible, we would also like you to acquire the driver of the truck and his associate piloting the red Glasgow. We've got a need for new recruits, especially ones with combat experience," spoke the captain to the assembled soldiers.

"We understand, sir."

"I know. And remember, you are members of the Extraterrestrial Combat Unit, which mean that you are the best the world has to offer. Regardless of nationality, we expect you to be able to best any fighting force on the planet, be it Britannian, Union, Federation, or even Zilkistani. So don't disappoint!"

"Yes sir!"

"Excellent. Now, get in the Skyranger - we're burning daylight!"

"SIR YES SIR!"

Less then a minute later, the team was airborne, checking their equipment and readying up for battle.

"Hey Julian, think we should've brought Blood Moon with us?" intoned one of the soldiers, a youthful woman by the name of Kalila al Fulani.

In response, a hulking mech turned his attention toward the girl. "No - he is still recovering from extensive fractures to seventy percent of his skeleton. It is a miracle he is both conscious and without permanent brain damage."

"Understood. Any chance we'll see any X-rays?"

"Yes, but likely ones affiliated with ADVENT - an overt assault would attract too much attention. ADVENT, on the other hand..."

"Why the hell are these guys using two different fronts? Either go full conqueror or full subversion. Doesn't make any sense to split their resources that way," intoned a burly Australian copiloting the aircraft.

"Hell if I know," replied the Pilot, callsign Big Sky, "but still, keep your eyes out - we can move in some knightmares to assist you, but it is best our existence remain a secret for now. Still, get locked and loaded now - I want you ready to pull an extraction as soon as we get to the AO."

"Yes sir!"

XXXXXXXXXXX

"Are you certain that we have found the location of the girl, Speaker?"

"We are. Our agents within the Royal Guard have confirmed that it is being carried aboard a truck that is making its way toward Shinjuku Ghetto as we speak. I have already prepared you a task force to deal with the terrorists and army."

"And I suppose that, once the battle is over, we will have to...purge Shinjuku?"

"Oh, I don't think we'll have to wait until after the battle to do that - Prince Clovis will most likely give the order whilst it is still going on - he doesn't want his experiments to come to light. And besides, we have knowledge indicating some of the resistance operatives in Shinjuku are affiliated with our foe's guerilla combat specialists. Removing them isn't clean up, it's fixing a mistake."

"Of course. All who turn their backs on the generosity of the elders must die."

XXXXXXXXXXX

After a brief bit of coasting, the truck finally came to a halt. It appeared to have gotten hung up on some damage to the tunnel, one that the driver just didn't have the strength to overcome.

Once he was sure that the truck had stopped, Lelouch began digging into his backpack. A moment later, he found what he was looking for, and pulled out the compact form of a Gremlin - a specially developed combat drone, based upon designs his mother had recovered. Hastily, he activated the drone, then sent it to check on the driver - best to try and let him live another day, especially if the photo he had been looking at was of his family.

Suddenly, the man hit a switch on the dashboard, causing the side of the truck to open up. Hiding behind the wall, Lelouch flinched when he heard a soldier informing his commanders that the poison gas had been located. For a moment, he thought about trying to retrieve his bag, where he'd stashed away a laser pistol, but he never got the chance before a soldier suddenly flew toward him, poised to deliver a roundhouse kick. Lelouch blocked the attack, but the momentum still knocked him on his back.

"That's enough mindless murder!"

"Wait! I'm not one of.."

"Planning to use poison gas? don't play dumb with me!"

"Get off!" shouted the former prince, shoving the soldier away as he slowly got to his feet. "I'm not here by choice! And if this was poison gas, it was made in Britannia, wasn't it?'

The soldier tried to offer a retort, only to freeze up when he got a good look at the prince's face. "My god..."

"Mindless murder? Then why don't you just obliterate Britannia?"

"Lelouch," began the solider, who quickly took off his helmet to reveal a face Lelouch knew all to well. "It's me...Suzaku."

Lelouch could only stare on in shock. "You...you became a Britannian soldier?"

"Yean, and what about you? Are you..."

"What are you saying?!"

Suddenly, the poison gas canister began to open. Without hesitation, Suzaku slammed his gas mask onto his friend's face, though ultimately, it proved unnecessary.

Where one would expect to find poison gas lay the straightjacket clad girl, a gag over her lower face, with unbelievably long green hair. A great many restraints cover her body. As she slowly fell to the ground, Suzaku and Lelouch moved to catch her.

_'So,' _thought the young prince, _'this is what they wanted.'_

A groan from the driver's compartment reminded Lelouch that there was another in need of assistance. Hastily, he moved to free the injured man, whilst also applying a minor dressing to his wounds. After a moment of surprise, Suzaku moved to assist as well, though not before asking Lelouch to take care of the girl.

Suzaku didn't get far with the treatment, though, before another member of the military arrived - a captain of the guard, no less.

"Stinking monkey! Being an Honorary Britannia will not excuse you!"

"But sir, I was told this was poison gas!"

Lelouch flinched as the captain dressed down Suzaku - in all likelihood, he would order Suzaku to kill the others, or simply kill all four himself. And while Lelouch could think of a few ways out of this, he knew he couldn't put those plans into action - he may have learned a few tricks from Asaru, but right now, he wasn't calm enough to use them.

"However, in light of your outstanding military achievemnts, I'm going to be lenient."

The captain handed Suzaku his pistol. "Private Kururugi, take this and execute the terrorist."

"But he's not a terrorist! He's just a civilian who got caught up in all this!"

"You insubordinate little...that's an order! Didn't you swear your loyalty and life to Britannia?!"

"Yes but...but..I can't".

"What?!"

"I won't do it. I won't shoot a civilian." Suzaku then turned to face Lelouch and gave a smile, knowing that his defiance would not go unpunished. "I can't follow order, sir."

"Very well."

The Captain promptly shot Suzaku in the back.

Lelouch could only cry out in horror, before turning his attention toward the captain, who lips contorted into a brutal smirk. "Well, Britannian schoolboy, not a good day to cut class."

The man turned his attention toward his squad. "Collet the girl, after you've secured her, execute the student and the terrorist."

"Yes my lord!"

Fortunately, they never got the chance to act on that command - just as they said those words, Lelouch hit a button on his phone. Acting on the last set of orders received, his Gremlin sent a special signal to the truck, causing it to explode. The balst was directed upaward, sparing Lelouch, and providing him an opportunity to escape with both the girl and the driver.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

As the Skyranger neared the ghetto, the robot onboard suddenly shifted, optics widening n shock.

"What is it, Julian?" questioned Big Sky.

"Oh dear - it appears Clovis is preparing to liquidate the ghetto. I'm sending in a request for reinforcements right now, but they won't get here in time."

"Shit. Anything else you're gonna call in?"

"Something big, humanoid, and covered in guns."

"...Good idea."

XXXXXX

A royal guard squad took aim at a group of civilians, only to be surprised when suddenly, a glowing purple vortex appeared in front of them. Moments later, a purple skinned humanoid wearing red armor stepped out, who's gaze promptly fell upon the guards.

"What the-"

Suddenly, the being's hands glowed purple, at which point he made a twisting gesture with his both hands. A chorus of crunches filled the air, and a moment later, both guardsmen and civilians fell to the group, necks twisted to unnatural angles.

As red armored soldiers began to exit the portal, the purple being began to observe the battlefield.

"Let us find the elder's prize quickly - we need not reveal ourselves so early to the rest of this world."

XXXXXXXXXX

Lelouch hastily mved into cover as a squad of guardsmen gunned down a group of civilians, all in the name of their prince. He'd already told the girl to be quiet, but as the driver was still somewhat delirious, Lelouch had resorted to covering the man's mouth with his hand, only weakening the vise-grip to allow him to breath.

Alas, Lelouch's stealth was ruined by bad luck - a sudden call on his phone turned the guard's attention toward him. Hastily silencing his phone (and also feeling somewhat worried about Shirley, who had been the one to call him, Lelouch reluctantly stepped out of the shadows, hands raised. Maybe, just maybe, he could talk his way out of this.

Then he saw the armbands the guards were wearing - black ones, each of which had a red symbol on them.

Instantly, Lelouch realized that talking was pointless - these men would kill him, no questions asked. How they had managed to get into the royal guard, though, was something he would never know.

"Well, how fitting - a terrorist would me his end here, unknown to the world."

"Oh, shut up. I'm not a terrorist."

"...I think you're lying."

"I'm lying? You claim to have sworn loyalty to Clovis, but you're only loyal to your alien masters!"

"...the mere fact that you know this means you are a terrorist, at least to ADVENT. And unfortunately, that means you have to die," replied the guardsmen, as he took aim with his pistol.

But then, suddenly, the green haired girl jumped in front of Lelouch.

"NO! HE MUST LIVE!"

For her trouble, the girl took a bullet to the forehead.

The guardsman stared on in shock, before sighing.

"Well, that makes things a little more difficult - the Speaker said that he wanted her alive. Guess we'll just have to wait a bit. Unfortunately for you, school boy, your time is still up."

Lelouch couldn't believe what had happened. First Britannia had killed Suzaku, now Advent had killed this girl...and he was next? After all he had gone through, he would die here, completely forgotten, before he had made his mark on the world?

Before he could make a gentler world for Nunnally?

Suddenly, the dead girl grabbed his hand. _"You don't want it to end here, do you?"_

Before Lelouch could responded, he suddenly found himself back in the technicolor tunnel, though this time, he could make out a few images - children with red bird-like marks on their foreheads. A desolate landscape, covered in what looked like mushrooms. Most unnervingly of all, he saw what looked like a giant, red eye.

_"You appear to have a reason for living. If I grant you power, could you go on? If so, I propose a deal: in exchange for this power, you must agree to make my one wish come true. Accept this contract, and you accept its conditions. While living in the world of humans, you will live unlike any other. A different province, a different time, a different life. The Power of the King will condemn you to a life of solitude. Are you prepared for this?"_

Before Lelouch could offer an answer, an all-to-familiar voice joined the conversation - that of his father.

_"A convergence with the Ragnorok Connection? So the myth is beginning once again?"_

That voice instantly hardened Lelouch's resolve. _"Yes! I hereby accept the terms of your contract!"_

XXXXXXXX

The guardsmen were surprised to witness the boy straighten himself up after appearing scared.

"Tell me, how should a member of Advent who detests his organization live his life?"

One guard balked at this. "Oh, please, how is that important?"

Yet despite their orders, then men could not bring themselves to open fire.

"What's wrong? Why not shoot? I am merely a schoolboy. Or have you finally realized, the only one who should kill are those prepared to be killed?!"

Immediately, the guards put their fingers around the triggers of their guns...but it was already too late.

"Now I, Prince Lelouch vi Britannia command you: **DIE!**"

As soon as the words left the boy's lips, a bird-like symbol appeared in his left eye. It then flew into the yes of the guards, and proceeded to override their minds, compelling them to obey the command.

Eyes now the same color as the symbol, the assembled guards put their guns to their temples. "Happily, your highness!"

A chorus of gunshots echoed, followed by the sound of falling bodies. For a moment, Lelouch could only stare on in silence.

"So this is...the power of...the Geass?"

Then, after the shock passed, a wicked grin filled the prince's face.

"Well, then...I believe it is time to act."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

**AN: And here is the first full chapter. Mostly the same as episode one, but it lays the groundwork for everything to go off the rails in the next chapter. Just a heads up, there's a third crossover planned for this story, but I'm not revealing it until later. However, it was hinted at during Lelouch's vision.**

**Anyway, read and review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!**


	3. BattleForShinjuku

The exiled prince could not help but admire the slaughter before him. So this was the power of the Geass, one he had only heard of through some whispers offered by Asaru and a certain isolated group. To wiped such a power, though...

Suddenly, a Sutherland charged into the warehouse, leaving the former prince exposed.

"What happened here, boy? And why is a Britannia student here, of all places?!"

For a moment, Lelouch considered his options - he could attempt to use his Geass to steal her Sutherland, or use a lie a earn her protection, however temporary that might be. In the end, though, this was unnecessary - something else intervened.

Without warning, a huge, red, frog like creature burst into the room, letting out a ferocious bellow. Before the knightmare could react, it charged into the machine, attempting to devour it. A rapid burst of bullets swiftly slew, though, yet its body continued to twitch for some time.

"What the-"

"In the interest of avoiding...whatever that is, may I request your protection?"

The alien beast was an unexpected opponent, but its arrival had been a pleasent surprise - now Lelouch had a somewhat valid excuse to seek the Knight's protection.

"...Sure. Just hurry and-"

"We're under attack!"

The conversation between knight and prince was cutoff when by a terrified call from another soldier. Instantly, the female knight, Viletta Nu, turned her attention toward her comrade's sudden cry.

"What?! Is it the Elevens? Do they have additional knight-"

"NO, its someone else! They're everywhere and ARGHHH-"

Soon, only static filled the radio.

Within her knightmare, Viletta froze in shock - a new force had entered the fray? And somehow, according to the display, it had wiped out Geoffrey's entire squad? Just who was this?!

"Um, excuse me?"

Viletta turned her attention back to the student. He seemed both nervous and annoyed - though given that she had ignored him in the middle of a warzone, perhaps he was not unjustified in either regard.

"Could you please let me into your knightmare? And let me take these two with me?"

The boy had pointed at an unconscious young woman and an eleven as he had said the last statement. The girl's head had been bandaged, and based on the amount of red marring the white, it appeared she had sustained a minor injury - one that looked to have stop bleeding, at least for now. As for the Eleven, he had suffered similar injuries to the chest - and his looked more severe.

Briefly, Viletta wondered if the Eleven had been involved in the theft of the poison gas, before putting that thought aside. She could question him later, but defeating this new foe took top priority.

"Fine, but please hurry - I can't guarantee your safety in the face of an unknown enemy."

"Understood."

As he carefully placed the girl within the knightmare's cockpit, Lelouch could not help but sigh in annoyance - things had certainly gotten more complicated than expected.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"This is Vixen, X-Ray neutralized," spoke the fourth member of Strike Seven as a sectoid fell to the ground.

"Copy, got three more headed this way-"

Suddenly, a Sutherland smashed through a nearby wall, destroying a cyberdisk and its drone escorts in the process. After gunning down the rest of the aliens, it turned its attention toward the four XCOM operatives.

"Attention unknown forces: this is Jeremiah Gottwald of the Purists! You have ten second to drop your weapons and...explain...your..."

The XCOM squad felt confused as the voice trailed off, unsure as to what had gotten into the knight before him. The only thing that had happened so far was that the Knightmare had opened its factsphere and begun to examine them.

"Tell me, where did you get those uniforms?"

Vixen gave the might an indignant look. "Why should we tell you?"

"Because I believe those uniforms are only given to the watchful...and the needed."

Instantly, the team froze up. "How do you know that."

"That is a story for another time, but for now, I retract my previous request. Now, is there anything you need?"

"...Some help beating back these x-rays would be appreciated."

"Very well. Lead the way."

XXXXXX

"Look's like you missed your chance to go to heaven, Private Kururugi," spoke a finely dressed scientist named Lloyd Asplund.

"...I did?" asked the recently awakened teen, still somewhat confused as to what was going on. "Where..."

"Still in Shinjuku. Normally, with the viceroy here, it'd be the safest place to be, but now, I think that's in doubt."

"What? Is it the terrorists-"

"No. IT's a different party entirely, and they seem to be fighting everyone. I've heard they're even killing unarmed Elevens."

"NO! Please, I need to get back to the fighting-"

"But you're too injured, Private Kururugi!-"

"Well, actually," interjected the Scientist, ignoring his assistant Cecile's objections, "they're might be a way for you to intervene. Tell me, how much do you know about piloting a knightmare?"

"Wha-but there's no way an Eleven could pilot a knightmare."

"Well, say you could."

XXXXXXXXXX

Clovis could only stare at the screen in shock - the new force had only arrived twenty minutes ago, but in that time, they'd slaughtered half his royal guard. The remainder were currently scattered, some trying to retreat, others futilely attempting to surrender. Some had even sided with the Elevens in an attempt to repel the unknown enemy, but even this unexpected alliance was failing, and fast.

"Bartley, what's going on! I thought you had this under control!"

"I had no idea this new force would come into play, my prince! I-I'm sorry!"

"Save your apologies, and inform all forces in Shinjuku to pull out. We'll use bombers to destroy them and the terrorist!"

"Sir, with all due respect, I can't follow that order."

"You would refused an order from the Viceroy of Area Eleven?!" shouted Clovis, staring at the communications officer in shock.

"No, but I simply can't carry out that order - all long range communications are being jammed!"

"Wha-do you believe the unknown force is responsible for this?!"

"Most likely. We're trying to contact all remaining forces now and attempt to regroup, but so far no one is responding-"

"Ah, it seems I've called in at just the right time!" announced Lloyd, to the communication officer's noticeable displeasure.

"What is it Asplund?" questioned Bartley.

"Well, it looks like you're in a pickle, but I think I might have a way to turn things around."

"I suppose its your special unit's newest machine, isn't it?"

"Of course. If the Viceroy is willing to give it the greenlight, I assure you that the Lancelot will be able to turn the tide."

Bartley turned to Clovis. "Are you willing to trust them?"

Clovis thought for a moment, then sighed. "Fine. Order all units to regroup, then let Lloyd put his machine to the test."

"Thank you, Viceroy! You won't regret this!"

As soon as Lloyd said that, two of the remaining knights called in.

"This is Margrave Jeremiah, what's going on? We're fighting an unknown force and -"

"Jeremiah, is that you?"

"Viletta. I knew you were still alive. Do you have any idea who we are fighting?"

"No, but I've picked up three civilians and am moving to release them at the G1. I've already checked them for arms."

"Very well, but hurry. We need to regroup now and-"

"You're losing rather badly, aren't you," intoned a new voice.

"What the-who is this?" questioned Clovis

"Lelouch," intoned Suzaku, much to the surprise of Lloyd, who hadn't yet cut off communications with the G1.

'_Lelouch?!' _note Clovis, recognizing the name from a time long past. Jeremiah also recognized the name, which brought back memories he was both fond and ashamed of.

"Suzaku! You're alright!"

"Yeah, I guess I am. But what about you? "

"I'll be fine, but I need you to listen - all of you!"

"And why should we?" questioned Bartley.

"...Private Kururugi," spoke Clovis, "answer me one question."

"yes, Viceroy?"

"Is this Lelouch who I think he is?"

"...Yes, he is."

"I see. Bartley, allow this man to speak."

"...Of course, your highness."

"Thank you, Viceroy. Now, could you please allow me to broadcast on an open channel?"

XXXXXXXXXX

"ATTENTION TO ALL IN THE SHINJUKU! I, VICEROY CLOVIS, AM DECLARING A CEASEFIRE IN THE FACE OF THE UNKNOWN THREAT!"

"What?!" Shouted Kallen, stunned by the statement. Why would the Viceroy offer a ceasefire.

"I'm aware some of you are surprised by the Viceroy's statement, but the situation has spiraled out of control," intoned new voice. "Thus, though it may be distasteful, if we wish to survive, then all Britannian military and Japanese Resistsance forces will need to work together!"

"Like he-"

Kallen would've continued her rebuttal, but a sudden explosion forced her to seek cover as a nearby building crumbled into nothingness. Emerging from the rubble were an octet of humanoid machines, each carrying what looked like a grenade launcher.

"..Fine," acquiesced the red head.

"Kallen, there you are," spoke Ohgi, relieved to have found his comrade. "What happened?"

"Someone else entered the fight and started attacking everyone! And like it or not, I don't think we can win if we stand on our own."

"..Me neither. I heard the message, what do we do now?"

"All forces, converge at the G1. To those Japanese Freedom Fighters, head to the railway - there's something waiting for you there."

"This guy better not be leading us into a trap!" grumbled Ohgi, uncertain about the communique.

When the resistance fighters arrived, though, they found that, instead of a trap, a train was waiting for them,,,and one full of knightmares, no less!

"NO way - these are Sutherlands!"

"Hell yeah - time to get some real firepower!"

Kallen could only stare on in shock. They were being offered these machines by (she presumed) a Britannian?! But why? Was the situation that desperate?!

"Woman in the red Glasgow."

"Wha?!"

"What is your energy filler status?"

"Fifteen minutes."

"Then recharge. Everyone else, form up. We'll only have one shot at repelling them, so we have to make it count!"

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"YOu really think you can do this, kid?" questioned Viletta, hand resting on the pistol at her hip.

"I do, but it's going to be close." _Especially knowing that both ADVENT and the regular alien forces are here. I'm almost certain that means one of the chosen will be leading this, and if I'm not careful, they'll turn the tide in a matter of seconds._

"Well, good luck hten. But if this is a setup, you'll be dead before you can blink."

Lelouch smirked at this comment. "I'll hold you to that."

Then, just as expected, the ADVENT MECs advanced.

_Excellent_

"P1, P2, P3, open fire!"

The pilots acquiesced, reducing the machines to molten slag.

"P5, P8, charge the flank!"

A group of Cyberdisks were torn apart in the attack that followed.

"R3, R5, go!"

The survivors of Lazlo squad sent a floater group tumbling in defeat.

On and on the commands followed, until the majority of the alien forces were dead, and the remainder in full retreat.

"Nice job, Zero," remarked the pointman of Strike Seven, designation 'All In'. "But I think they have one more trick up their sleeves."

Sure enough, one last alien group emerged to engage the humans. These were also MECs, but ones the size of knightmares.

"Then it's a good thing I saved an ace for this. Q1, N1, advance!"

XXXXXXXXXXX

"Entering battle now!"

Within moments, the Lancelot charged into the fray. As soon as he approached the enemy, Suzaku activated the Maser Vibration Blades and began swinging. Each swing struck true, and soon, many of the MECs were reduced to scrap.

The remainder, meanwhile, had to contend with Kallen, who proved to be just as dangerous as Suzaku. Even with her machine missing an arm, it made short work of the vastly superior ADVEMT drones. When one tried to take aim at her, she simply batted it aside, then shot down the next nearest machine, and found a new target. She even managed to get two of the MECs to destroy each other.

Between the Red Queen and the White Knight, the fight was over in a matter of moments.

".hu..hu...We...did it," huffed Suzaku.

"..I guess we did," agrred Kallen.

"Bravo, humans," intoned a new voice. "It seems you've managed to best my forces."

"What now?" questioned an exasperated Clovis.

"Now? I'll show you how insignificant you are."

Without warning, a wall of purple energy surged forth, slamming into the Glasgow and the Lancelot. The two knightmares went tumbling, as did all of the others. Lelouch, Naoto, Viletta an the Green Haired Girl tumbled out of their escape pod as it crashed to the ground.

Hidden behind a piece of rubble, Vixen groaned at the sudden change in the conflict, before hastily typing in some coordinates to her Gremlin.

_'Keep him distracted, Zero.'_

_XXXXXXXX_

_'Of course.'_

Without further prodding, Lelouch ran out of cover, until he found himself facing a massive Knightmare. This one was red and purple in color, with black and gold trim.

"Are you the one called Zero?" questioned the giant machine. It was significantly larger than even the Lancelot, yet it approached the former prince with unprecedented grace.

"Indeed I am. I must say, that is an impressive knightmare."

"Flattery will get you nowhere, child."

"Perhaps, but I think it will accomplish my goals for this mission."

"Are you talking about saving your comrades?" asked the unknown pilot as his machine started to glow purple, "because I can assure you that they won't leave the battle alive."

Lelouch merely smirked at this. "No. What I mean is that you've focused yourself so much on addressing my flattery that you've failed to pay attention to your surroudings."

Before the Warlock could respond, a barrage of missiles impacted his machine, throwing up a cloud of dust. A moment later, a larger object landed before him, which the exiled prince hastily ran toward.

Growling in anger, the Warlock used his powers to blow away the dust and smoke, before charging up his weapons. As the cloud cleared, though, he found that the young prince was no longer visible, and in his black was a black and gold knightmare...which had wrists that softly glowed blue.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Lelouch stared at the screen before him, watching as all of the systems did their final check. His apprehension turned to glee as a single line appeared on screen.

NOBUNAGA ONLINE

Smiling, Lelouch channeled his psychic energy into the machine. Within moments, two huge blades of blue lights emerged from the knightmare's wrists.

The Demon King had awakened...

XXXXXXXXXXX

**AN: Next Chapter: The Red Queen, White Knight, and Demon King vs The Shadow Dragon**

**Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!**


	4. RedQueen,WhiteKnightandDemonKingVsShadow

**Chapter 3: The Red Queen, White Knight, and Demon King vs The Shadow Dragon**

Everyone, be they Rebels, Britannians, innocents, or ADVENT forces, stared on in shock as the new Knightmare made its debut on the battlefield. The black and gold machine, tinged with purple lights, was a surprise arrival - almost as much as the larger knightmare it had been summoned to fight.

In particular, the Camelot division was caught flat footed by the new arrivals - these machines, if going by looks alone, appeared to be as advanced as the Lancelot, if not more so. Most of the team, Cecile amongst them, was now worried about their prized Lancelot and its pilot.

Their leader, meanwhile, could only stare in awe at the two newly emerged machines - already, he wanted to see what was underneath the armor.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

With unprecedented speed, the giant knightmare charged, with the trio standing before it only barely managing to dodge in time.

"What the hell is this thing?" questioned Kallen, who'd already opened fire upon the machine. Unfortunately, the titanic war mech was so heavily armored that the bullets merely impacted harmlessly on its surface.

"It's called the Vortigern," replied Lelouch, who promptly grabbed and hurled a piece of rubble at the machine, only for said rubble to be blasted out of the air. "I don't know much beyond that, so the best advice I can give you is to watch it carefully."

As the enemy machine prepared to open fire, the Lancelot shot forward, Maser Vibration Swords drawn. In an instant, the machine raised its left arm, and just before the blades could make contact, a shield materialized to block the blades. The two machiens were momentarily locked in a struggle, before the larger one simply pushed its hand forward, sending the white knight surging back. Not missing a beat, it took aim and fired a missile, only for the projectile to be shot down by the Nobunaga, which followed it up with a barrage of laser fire.

Within the machine's cockpit, Lelouch smiled. It seemed Shen had managed to figure out how to mount the laser cannon and solve the overheating problem. He'd need to thank the man when he returned to base.

XXXXXX

At the G1, Lloyd couldn't keep the shock off his face. Laser weapons? _Mounted on knightmares?!_

Within the scientist's mind, feelings of jealousy and awe clashed. On the one hand, he was rather miffed at being unable to perfect the world's first beam weapon, as the hadron canon was still in the prototyping phase, but on the other, he had to give the makers of this machine credit - somehow, without anyone else in the world knowing, they'd managed to build a functional beam weapon and mount it on a knightmare. And based upon how it was using said weapon, the makers had also managed to fix any obvious flaws in the machine's design.

Just who were these people?

XXXXXXX

The Vortigern charged toward the Nobunaga, a massive purple blade forming in one of its hands. Lelouch barely managed to evade the blow, then parried another with one of his Knightmare Shard Blades. As the blades locked, though, Lelouch felt some energy draining out from him - the gauntlets needed psychic power for fuel, and with how much energy they used up, there was only so many times he could use them. Further training with Asaru and Geist would lessen the burden, but a protracted melee duel was not in his best interests.

Groaning, Lelouch dodged another blow, but this time, when he moved to strike, the shield formed once again. As sword and shield locked, however, Kallen fired her landspinner, striking the Vortigern across the back. Enraged, the pilot let out a feral growl, then turned and tried to bash her with the shield. Fortunately, she'd detached the landspinner and hastily fell back, leaving the shield to hit empty air.

Capitalizing on the opening, Lelouch switched weapons and took aim. A moment later, the Zujari Blaster Launcher fired, and managed to blow off the armor from the Vortigern's unshielded arm.

Practically roaring in anger, the Warlock turned around charged Lelouch, who deftly dodged out of the way. This time, though, the Knightmare followed up with a massive bema of psionic energy - one that the Exiled Prince could not dodge. Lelouch was forced backwards by the blow, with his Knightmare giving off dozens of warnings.

Sensing that his opponent was vulnerable, the Warlock moved in for the kill, on for the Lancelot to rejoin the battle, blades drawn once more. This time, though, the machine fought differently from before, weaving around the larger knightmare's strikes and weapons' fire whilst taking a swing whenever it got the chance. The Chosen warrior found his temper progressively worsening as it became apparent just how severe the agility divide between the two machines was - the Vortigern was quite fast, oh yes, but the smaller machine could outmaneuver it without a doubt.

Finally, the Warlock's patience reached its limit. Drawing his psychic energy into one of the machine's fists, he slammed it into the ground, creating a shockwave that toppled all three of his opponents, followed by gesture that caused their machines to collide with each other. Grinning, the Warlock readied one last attack...only to notice a notification had appeared on his machine's heads up display. Curious, he examined it.

'FALL BACK - ADDITIONAL BRITANNIAN ARMY FORCES INBOUND. WE CANNOT AFFORD TO REVEAL YOUR MACHINE PUBLICLY JUST YET'

Groaning in annoyance, the Warlock locked on to his opponents, intent to finish them before leaving. Before he got the chance, though, a massive hail of gunfire barraged his machine - the remaining human forces had recovered and were mounting a counter attack. Sighing in defeat, the warlock opened up a portal and retreated.

XXXXXXX

Camelot wasted no time in reacquainting the Lancelot, as Lloyd wanted to check his masterpiece for any signs of damage. Kallen, meanwhile, rejoined her friends, who were now staring at the Britannians with looks of uncertainty.

What the Buceroy said next, though, surprised everyone.

"I am thankful for your assistance, Elev...Citiznes of Japan. Thus, on this day, I will forgive your theft and allow you to leave in peace."

Before anyone could respond, however, the Nobunaga finally rolled up to the G1. There, the pilot stepped out and turned to face the gathered crowd.

"Thank you for your assistance. Your help was invaluable. I am sure you have questions, but at the moment, I cannot answer them. I must be elsewhere-"

"But Le-"

"I apologize, but the circumstances are nonnegotiable."

"...Fine," groused Clovis, "but do you require anything? Besides the green haired girl?"

Said girl was glaring daggers at the prince, and was still considering whether or not she should try and kill him now, especially since he seemed to be treating her like property.

"No - the girl is enough. And I apologize for treating you as an object," intoned the exiled prince.

"Apology accepted, though I doubt anyone wants you to leave without giving them some answers."

"I know. I am willing to reveal more about these circumstances if you would meet with me tomorrow. The meeting will be held at the park to the South of Ashford Academy, one hour after sundown. There, I will tell you all the truth."

As the words slipped out of his mouth, Lelouch couldn't help but wince in guilt - he didn't want to have to use his psionics to make them comply with his request, but right now, he needed to return to base - already, his support had retreated, taking the cadavers, wrecks and artifacts with them.

The nudging was enough, though, and reluctantly, the assembled terrorists and soldiers allowed him to leave with the girl.

"I have to ask," intoned said girl, "but how do you intend to escape unnoticed."

Lelouch merely smirked and pulled down a lever on the machine's controls.

"Ghost Mode activated."

When the chameleon plates finally conferred the knight made with invisibility, Lelouch made a beeline for nearest subway tunnel. There, he would have an easy time making his way back to base.

XXXXXXX

**AN: I'm back!**

**Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!**


	5. Chapter 4: In the Heart of the Temple

Wordlessly, Lelouch zipped through the tunnels. Already, he'd passed the point where any subway trains or maintenance workers would notice his machine, leaving it safe for him to go as fast as he wanted. And in spite of the damage inflicted upon his knightmare, its locomotive systems were still fully operational.

Thinking about the damages made Lelouch wince - Milly's grandfather was not going to be happy about those.

"So, where are we going?" questioned the green haired girl.

"Home."

XXXXXXXX

Asaru watched as the various news stations began documenting the aftermath of the battle. The damage was so extreme that hiding it would be impossible, but it would still be possible to deflect blame from the actual guilty party, something that Prince Clovis had been swift to perform. Officially, the damage at Shinjuku had been caused by terrorists, and not ones comprised of Japanese citizens - the organization and technology of the terrorists did not match any group in Area Eleven, making the threat appear to be an international one. Already, a reporter was speculating that the attack had been carried out by Peace Mark, whose hatred of Britannia was well known.

Turning his attention away from the gossip that was about to enue, Asaru looked over the battle report. This was the first time they'd seen one of the Chosen's Knightmares in operation, meaning this would be their first chance to gauge its strength and, hopefully, find any weaknesses.

Strike Seven had already returned to base, carrying with them a treasure trove of valuable artifacts. Cadavers, weapons, armor, all things the research team would love to get their hands on. And in a short while, Zero would arrive with the greatest prize - the green haired girl from Code R.

Oh, finding out about that project hadn't been too hard. XCOM made a point of trying to recruit the absolute best in their fields, so it had only been a matter of time before they recruited someone who had been involved with Code R, and a high ranking one at that. Said researcher had been surprisingly open about his actions, and even helped arrange an opportunity for XCOM to rob his former employers.

That researcher was now in the Genetics lab, looking over a quartet of girls who, days before, he would have been performing experiments upon. Strike Six has made a point of ransacking the lab they were at whilst the battle of Shinjuku had been ongoing, ensuring that their actions would not merit a large reprisal.

A sudden alert brought Asaru's attention to one of the entrance tunnels - it appeared that Lelouch had returned to base.

Well, time to roll out the red carpet.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Good to see you back in one piece."

"Good to know there are people that will miss me," replied the former Eleventh Prince.

If he had a face with recognizable lips and a mouth, the ethereal would have smiled. As is, he simply chuckled, before allowing the engineering team to get to work on repairing the machine. Though admittedly stronger than any knightmare on Earth barring the Lancelot, the Nobunaga had taken moderate damage during the battle, and would need repairs before it could be used again.

"So, this is your home?" questioned the green haired girl, expression unreadable. Her voice, however, indicated she was hardly suprised at her surroundings.

Granted, if what Geist had said about her was correct, then this wouldn't be the most shocking thing she had seen in her life.

"One of two. I'll save a full introduction for when everyone else arrives tomorrow, but this is where I help in the fight against our...mutual enemies."

"I can tell. Thought that it wou look...grander, though."

"You haven't seen anything yet."

"Ah, Lelouch, your back-"

Upon hearing that voice, the girl's eyes widened. Turning, she found herself staring at a borwn haired, man with light green eyes.

Someone she was _very _familiar with.

Before she could act, though, Lelouch placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't."

"But he-"

"Did unspeakable things to you, I know. He told us. He also arranged circumstances so that you could be rescued."

"...Oh did he?"

"Yes, ma'am. I...apologize for what I did to you. I am sincerely sorry for my actions."

The girl stared at him for a moment, numerous expressions crossing her face. Anger, disgust, confusion, and many others al filtered through her mind. On the one hand, the man had done horrible things to her, but on the other, he had seemed remorseful for them, both as he had conducted the experiments and right now. Plus, killing someone who belonged to the organization that rescued you was a major faux pas.

Eventually, though, the girl decided on a course of action.

*SLAP*

"Consider yourself forgivne," spoke the girl to the man, who was now clutching his face in pain.

"..Thank you."

"As much as I like this to continue," interjected Asaru, "we do need to get our dark haired friend home. We did not have time to arrange a cover story for your absence, and I would rather Millicent Ashford not try and convince her grandfather's academy to hunt you down. Shen can't build a mobile decoy drone for you every time that happens."

"Ah, correct," agreed the scientist. "You should be going. Milly is...quite a handful."

"I'm well aware," acknoweldged the form prince. "Speaking of which, I assume you want me to make sure that she doesn't harasss your daughter too much?"

"Um, well...yes."

"Relax. 'll make sure Milly doesn't spend too much time using Shirely as her chew toy."

"Ah, thank you, Lelouch."

Then the prince turned to the girl. "As previously stated, I must be going, but I will need to fill out a post battle report before returning home. If you need anything, I suggest you ask my hooded companion - he's the most knowledgeable about our group...by the way, may I have your name?"

"Call me C.C. As for questions..."

C.C. turned to face Asaru. "How did you make the inside of your hood so dark?"

"..Why do they always ask me that?"

XXXXXXXXX

Back at the G1, Prince Clovis was going over the battle with his advisors and the Camelot Division. The battle had been an utter disaster - until the boy who had piloted the black and gold knightmare had arrived, they had been utterly trounced by the new foes. The Lancelot had performed admirably against the giant knightmare, of course, and had only suffered minor damage, but one machine was not an army - they would need to learn more about their new foe or be destroyed.

"Have you found out anything of value examining that machine, Asplund?" inquired Clovis.

Said earl turned away from the screens and sensor readings to address the prince. "No, sadly. Beyond the obvious facts that the machine is monstrously durable, incredibly powerful, and deceptively fast, I haven't found anything regarding the weaknesses of this knightmare. There is one odd thing I noticed about it, though."

"And that is?"

"The energy the machine is emitting when it used its beam attack and shield doesn't match up with anything I've ever seen before. It appears to be an entirely new type of power system. And whatever it is, it can clearly do incredible things."

"I see. Carry on."

Then, the prince turned to face Private Kururugi.

"Private Kururugi?"

"Yes, my lord?"

"Are you certain the boy is who you think he is?"

"Absolutely, sir!"

"Why are you asking an Eleven about that boy?" questioned Jeremiah. There was no malice in his voice, though, merely curiosity.

"Do you know who Private Kururugi's father is? questioned the Third Prince.

"Genbu Kururug, the former Prime Minister of Japan," was Viletta's response.

"Indeed he was. That same man was, prior to the Pacific War, given my younger half sister and brother as bargaining chips."

"W-wait," stammered Kewell, "are you saying that-"

"That I believe the boy Private Kururugi saw was my half brother, Lelouch vi Britannia? Yes, I think he is."

"Then why aren't we searching for him?"

"Because I know my brother, and if he's alive and hasn't been found yet, then he doesn't want to be found. My brother has incredible talent for anything he sets his mind to, so if he has avoided be discovered all these years, it is because he wishes to avoid being noticed, and has actively worked toward that goal. I don't know why he would do so, but attempting to find him would be pointless - we'd just be wasting our time."

"So what do we do now?" questioned Margrave Gottwald.

"Now, we wait, and hope the meeting information he gave us was accurate."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"What the hell was with thos...those...those things?!" shouted Tamaki, still rather jarred by foes he'd faced hours earlier.

"I don't know," was Ohgi's response, "but I think that for now, we should lie low. Whatever they are, we're not ready to fight them. Not for now, at least."

"Agreed," intoned Inoue.

"So we just hide for now?" asked Kallen.

"Yes. You should head back to school now - you've been gone long enough, With your brother still in the hospital, all eyes on your family will be focused on you, and if you keep missing class..."

"Alright, alright, I get it! Fine, I'll head back. Do you wnat me to try and look at the meeting place that guy...Zero mentioned?"

"If you can, please do - best not to go into the meeting blind."

"Gotcha. "

XXXXXX

****AN: Less action this chapter, but we breather moments or the story gets boring. ****

****So, I revealed a curveball here: Joseph Fenette is on the XCOM Research Team. Thing is, as mentioned already, XCOM naturally tries to recruit from best people in every field they need scientists for. Odds are, they'd need more than a few genetics experts (especially once they get into making Gene Mods), so it's not unlikely that they'd eventually pick up someone from Code R. Also, given what working on Code R would require in terms of schooling, I assume that Joseph would have at least mentioned something relating to it to Shirley (along the lines of him working at a research facility studying genetics for medical reasons, since that isn't too revealing), which she would probably mention to Lelouch, who might mention that to XCOM. One advanced search/hacking campaign later, and XCOM has intel on Code R.****

****As for Joseph being remorseful for his actions, I think he did regret his choices in the spin off Nightmare of Nunnally, which is also where the four girls mentioned earlier come from. A digital pie for you if you can guess who they are.****

****Now, this story is already a crossover between Code Geass and XCOM, but I have two others stories I am considering adding to this one's universe. One is already on the list, and will be added in within the next two chapters. The last one, however, will depend on the reception to third crossover, and so will be unrevealed until that point. This is your only heads up.****

****Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!****


	6. Chapter5AcademicDowntime

The door opened, and Lelouch stepped out with a sigh. Today had been...exhausting.

Less exhausting yet equally time consuming, though, was determining an excuse for why he had arrived home so late. Oh, Sayoko and Nunnally needed no explaining - they were already aware of his secret. Complicit in it, even. Milly, Nina, Rivalz, and Shirley, though...

Lelouch winced. Shirley was going to give him an earful tomorrow. And he'd need to apologize for ditching Rivalz. For now, though, he was in the clear. Tomorrow would inevitably be problematic, but at the moment, he could rest.

"So, this is where you live?"

Lelouch turned to face C.C. The girl had followed him home, ostensibly because, as he was her contractor, it was in her best interests to make sure that he fulfilled his end of their bargain. Part of Lelouch wondered if she just didn't like being alone.

"Yes, it is. Welcome to the Ashford Academy Clubhouse."

"Does it have something to do with that old man who was looking over your knightmare?"

"It was built in his honor. The Ashford family may no longer command the respect that they once did, but their influence is still enough that there are those who would sacrifice much to get in their good graces."

"I see. Was it built intentionally atop your 'other' home?"

"No. The base was built long before the invasion. It merely happens that part of it is located right underneath the settlement."

"So someone thought it would be a good idea to build an underground city on an island nation wracked by Earthquakes?"

"The idea was to have our headquarters located on a nation that was not aligned with any of the three great world powers - basing ourselves in Britannia, the EU, or the Chinese Federation would make it seem as though we were playing favorites, at least in the eyes of some. Plus basing ourselves in Japan assured easy access to Sakuradite. In hindsight, though, the choice does seem rather short sighted."

"I'll say."

"Big brother, you're back!"

Lelouch smiled as his sister appeared before him, with Sayoko not far behind.

"Welcome home, master. I trust everything went well?"

"Yes, it did."

"I was so worried about you!" exclaimed Nunnally, who wheeled herself over and practically leaped out of her wheelchair to give her brother a hug. Caught by surprise, the exiled prince fell over, though not without returning the gesture of affection. Internally, Lelouch was glad only Sayoko was watching - too many others might interpret this situation the wrong way.

After a few moments, Nunally borke their embrace and, with difficulty, made her way back to her wheelchair. Sayoko and Lelouch both offered to help her, but Nunnally had politely refused - she wished to do this on her own.

Asaru had invested considerable time in helping the young of the vi Britannia siblings regain what she had lost on the day their mother had been assassinated. Though giving her back the usage of her legs had been out of his reach at first, restoring her eyesight had not. It had taken a few days, but eventually, her sight had been restored. Lelouch had found it odd that she was able to see perfectly well after being blind for an extended period of time, but he was unwilling to look a gift horse in the mouth. As for her legs, Asaru and XCOM had initially had no way to restore their functionality - the Outsiders had not possessed the technology to allow for this. The arrival of the new enemy, however, had brought new technologies to examine, amongst them MELD. The alien compound had made the previously unreachable fields of cybernetics and advanced scale genetic modification reality, which had the side effect of allowing treatments for conditions that were once regarded as irreversible. Of course, even though MELD could restore the usage of Nunnally's legs, that didn't mean that they were good as new. She would need to learn how to walk again. It was not easy, but Nunnally was not about to let that hurdle get in her way.

Only when Nunnally had returnd to her wheelchair did she finally seem to notice the presence of the green haired girl. "Oh, and it looks like my brother brought a friend. I'm sorry for not noticing you earlier. What's your name?"

"C.C."

"What a funny name. Though I think I've met someone else who has a name like that."

For a moment, C.C. froze up. Did these people know about V.V.?

….No, that wouldn't make snese - she had examined Lelouch's memories upon forming their contract, and she had seen no evidence that either were acquainted with Charles' elder brother. Still, how would they know someone with a code bearer's name? Did it have something to do with this secretive organization that they both seemed to belong to?

Regardless of the reason, though, this did make their contract all the more interesting. It seemed she had chosen her current contractor well.

XXXXXXXXXXX

"And now for tonight's top story: a terrorist attack was carried out earlier today in the Shinjuku Ghetto. Though it was initially believed that the culprits were one of the terrorist groups based in Area Eleven, such as the JLF or Yamato Alliance, further examination of the scene reveals similarities to an attack carried out by an unidentified group in the United Republic of Europia city of Hamburg, alongside a third attack in the outskirts of Shenyang, capital of the Liaoning Province of the Chinese Federation. Amongst other similarities, several Elevens and Britannian soldiers were discovered to have been encased alive in some kind of green film, similar to those found in Hamburg and Shenyang. Reports have claimed that the film is toxic, but it is expected all of those covered in it will make a full recovery. Unconfirmed reports indicate that a terrorist group formed an alliance with convenience to repel the foreign extremists, but for now, these claims remain unverified."

"With this attack, it appears that all major world powers have been victimized by this unknown terror organization. Now, three questions remain: who are these people, what do they want, and what will the nations of the world do to oppose them?"

Asaru sighed. It seemed that Clovis had finally released a cover story for the attack.

The mention of Hamburg had been rather painful, a reminder of how dangerous this war was. Oh, none of the team had died, but three of its members had been hospitalized, all suffering severe injuries from the sectoid plasma weapons. Bradford had taken responsibility for the disaster, though Asaru had understood that it had mostly been a result of bad luck. Still, the battle had proven that XCOM needed to always be on its toes - they would get no second chances in this war, and could not afford to waste personnel.

With their top story finished, the station went on to other topics - amongst them the rise in interest in the study of genetics and gene splicing. Numerous corporations were making headway into genetic modification, amongst them such groups as the Helix foundation, Gene Garden, the Children of Eve, BioSyn, and International Genetics Incorporated. The last group was a subgroup of Masrani Global, if he remembered accurately, a group that Lelouch had some investments in. The various groups mentioned were working on a field that XCOM had already made great headway into, but there was still much to learn. Perhaps a backroom deal could be arranged to share knowledge? one could never be too cautious.

In other news, Second Princess Cornelia li Britannia was having great success in her campaign against the Middle Eastern Federation, and it would likely only be a few says before Area Eighteen was founded. Though the ethereal opposed her on moral grounds, he could not deny that she was an effective military commander. Perhaps they could work together in the future and, hopefully, soften her aggressive tendencies. A fool's hope, perhaps, but still one worth having.

Turning off the news, Asaru turned his attention toward his computer. Bradford was relieving him tonight, so he had a few hours worth of free time. Perhaps he could find a few people willing to challenge him in Total War?

XXXXXXXXXXX

_The Next Day_

Lelouch winced in pain. Curse his lack of sleep and Milly for her attentiveness. And curse that green haired girl for stealing his bed! He knew it was chivalrous for a man to give up his bed for a lady, but that didn't mean he was happy with C.C. for deciding to claim his bedroom as her own.

He was saved from having to explain himself when Milly decided to focus her attention on balancing the school's budget, which swiftly devolved into a rather banal conversation that ended with Milly commenting Shirley on her well developed figure. Lelouch was inclined to agree with her, but said nothing - romance was beneath him, at least for now. Once this invasion was thwarted, and he had found some measure of vengeance for his mother, perhaps he could consider starting a family. But until those tasks were completed, he refused to open his heart to others - it would only lead the unaware to pain.

'Lighten up a bit,' intoned a familiar mental voice.

'Nice to hear from you again, Asaru.'

'Thanks. Listen, our Covert Ops team just brought in some new intel today. It's not about the Aliens, ADVENT, or EXALT, though - it's about our allies of convenience from Shinjuku. We've managed to identify them, and I think you'd really be interested in the identity of the Red Haired girl.'

'Oh, and who is she?'

'Her birthname is Kallen Kozuki. Officially, though, she's known as Kallen Stadfelt.'

'The daughter of Count Stadfelt?!'

'Yes. I belive she is registered as attending classes here at Ashford. Perhaps you could meet with her?'

'I suppose. Though can we save any recruitment pitches until tonight?'

'Of course. On that note, be advised, the Covert Ops team just brought in another piece of intel. This one's about EXALT - it looks like they've begun making moves in Japan. I belive they intend to try and see if they can pilfer anything from Shinjuku - we know that they've got moles in the Britannian military.'

'I assume you want me to lay low?'

'They already know how valuable you'd be in blackmailing Britannia, so yes.'

'Understood. Anything else?'

'None for now. Have a nice day.'

'You as well.'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It wasn't hard for Lelouch to make out Kallen amongst the students at Ashford - the red shade of her hair wasn't exactly common in Japanese or Britannians, and she didn't exactly take great pains to disguise herself. She simply seemed to rely upon the fact that nobody would expect a Britannian student (and a noble, at that) to be a terrorist.

Lelouch was thankful that Milly had asked him to meet with Kallen today and bring her to the clubhouse - all students at Ashford were required to be part of a club, and as Kallen was not a member of one yet, Milly has asked him to 'invite' her to join the student council. This also gave him the opportunity to inquire to her about her involvement at Shinjuku. Right now was the perfect moment, seeing how everyone else had run off when a bee had flown up to Kallen - a bee that she had swiftly killed.

Kallen was rather surprised when she noticed Lelouch had walked up to her. "Can I help you with something?"

"Please answer mny questions," remarked the prince, geass symbol appearing in his eyes.

Instantly, Kallen's face went blank, with her eyes faintly glowing red. "Of course."

"Were you at Shinjuku yesterday?"

"Yes."

"IS your involvement in Anti-Britannian activity because you are Japanese?"

"Yes, but I am also half Britannian."

"I see."

Though it was almost imperceptible, Lelouch noticed that Kallen's eyes had stopped glowing. It appeared that she was no longer under his control.

Instantly, her expression turned to one of suspicion and confusion. "Um, did you want something?"

"Yes, actually. The student council president requested that I escort you to our meeting room."

"What?! Why?!"

"All students are required to be part of a school club, and since you have yet to join any, Ms. Ashford wishes to induct you into the student council. Now please, follow me. Milly can be...quite a handful."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

About half an hour later, Lelouch found himself standing outside the Clubhouse's shower. Kallen's induction had ended with her getting doused in cider, in part due to an attempt by Rivalz to keep Shirley from taking the drink, which led to Lelouch catching the bottle, and when Shirley had tackled him, the pressure build up had caused the cork to fly off, dousing Kallen in the beverage. Somehow, the prince knew that Milly was going to tease Kallen about this in the future. Lelouch carefully laid the extra clothes for Kallen out within her reach, then made his way out of the room - he wasn't intent on abusing her respect for a view. He had standards, unlike some of his siblings.

'True enough, kid.'

'I assume you are contacting me because you have important news?'

'EXALT just raided a building belonging to the Six Houses of Kyoto. Normally, we wouldn't get involved, especially since back the NLA would likely turn Britannia against us, but it just so happens that owner of the building was the Council Representative from Japan. '

'I see. Did she request action from us?'

'Not yet - no evidence where they are based, so she won't asks us to go on a wild goose chase. That being said, something tells me they'll be making a move soon enough. Also, said representative wanted to know if you're alright. She seems rather fond of you.'

'_I'm aware.'_

'I know. Also, we managed to catch a few EXALT operatives sneaking around near Ashford. Keep you eyes peeled.'

'Understood.'

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Eventually, classes came to an end, leaving the student council to once again manage the various upcoming club events. As the time dragged on, though, Lelouch couldn't help but wonder about whether everyone he had met the prior day would arrive at the meeting spot. He could easily excuse himself for whatever number of reasons (including simply mentally asking Reuben to request his presence), but there was only so long before Milly started to question his absences.

Right now, though, he was more concerned with the fact that Rivalz was once again trying to break out hte cider. This time, though, Kallen tricked him into dropping it, once again feigning a sickly appearance, after which she gave Lelouch the bottle for safe keeping.

'Lelouch, we have a problem.'

'EXALT?'

'No. Scanners just picked up a new UFO, unknown type.'

'New foe?'

'Not sure. We pick up have a dozen ships passing by all the time - not everyone wants to invade the Earth. Thing is, we detected this one engaged in battle with several others, also belonging to an unknown type of UFO.'

'I assume that the ship is headed my way, otherwise you wouldn't be contacting me.'

'It's gonna crash right by where you asked Clovis' forces and Kallen's friends to meet you, according to our current projections.'

'...Oh. I see. Can you arrange an alibi?'

'Already on it-'

There was a knock on clubhouse door. "Is there anyone here? I have a delivery for one Lelouch Lamperouge."

'...That wasn't my plan.'

"Lelouch, are you expecting any deliveries?"

"No, Milly."

Before Milly could act on this information, Kallen was at the door. "I'm sorry, but-"

Kallen didn't have time to answer when the delivery person produced a pistol from a hidden pocket and pointed it at her. Caught off guard, Kallen froze, until the man directed her to move back into the clubhouse, to which she complied, unwilling to break her cover. Though that might have had something to do with the delivery man being joined by another man and two women. Slowly, Kallen made her way back into the clubhouse, followed by the four intruders. The rest of the student council froze up upon seeing the intruders, though Lelouch and Nunnally merely sighed. So this was how it was going to go down, was it?

Poor Nina was already hyperventilating.

The leader of the group - the one who had posed as a delivery man - turned his attention to Lelouch. "I assume you are Lelouch?"

Lelouch put his right hand on the bridge of his nose, whilst sending a psychic message to a hidden Sayoko to warn her to wait. "I am."

"Well, then I assume you know what happens next?"

"Lulu, what is he talking about?"

"I'll tell you in a moment, and yes," answered the exiled prince. "But first, are you four all there is?"

"Four is enough."

Lelouch laughed at the women's response. "No, it isn't."

Before anyone could respond, Lelouch removed his hand from his faces and snapped his fingers. Instantly, all members of the group bar their leader fell over, unconscious. The surprise of his companions being knocked out caused the leader to drop his guard. Capitalizing on the moment, Lelouch threw the bottle of cider at him, with the bump at striking him in the forehead. Lelouch subtly nudged the bottle so that it would land, upright and intact, between his legs. This meant that when the pressure build up caused the cork to shoot off, the leader was struck somewhere very sensitive...and also robbed of his dignity.

Whilst he was grabbing his nether regions in pain, Lelouch gave Sayoko the signal. A moment later, and the leader fell over, unconscious.

Everyone in the Clubhouse turned their attention toward Lelouch, shock covered in shock. Nunnally and Sayoko, however, had their faces cloaked with concern - they were unsure what the prince would do next.

Before Lelouch could respond, though, the sound of a plane engine seemed to fill the air. Except instead of a plane, the source of the sound appeared to be a meteor...one which was flying very close to Earth.

Within moments, the 'meteor' impacted with the ground, though the crash site was beyond what could be seen from the clubhouse. Lelouch, however, had a good idea what it was, and that just made him groan in annoyance - it appeared he would have to let the student council in on his and Nunnally's secret.

XXXXXXXX

AN: Not much action in this chapter, but I needed certain things set up for later.

For those who aren't aware, the Hamburg incident refers to Operation Devil's Moon, the Tutorial for XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Technically, the mission can happen in one of four German cities (Hamburg, Berlin, Cologne or Munich), but everything else is the same. In the game, all but one of the squad gets wiped out, but since this is because of stupid decisions by Bradford that don't really match up with his canon commanding skills, I changed it to them all ending up wounded except for the guy who would have survived in the original timeline.

XCOM HQ is in Japan in this timeline because of the reasons stated. It was only while I was writing this that I realized there would likely be probably be problems from this due to earthquakes, thus the in-chapter acknowledgement of this.

The reference to Jurassic Park and its sequels was me wanting to make a comparison between XCOM's MELD research and the actions of other groups.

I included the scenes involvingKallen from the original canon because I liked them, modified them because Lelouch has had to learn to control a power similar to his Geass for some time, so he's already got an idea of its limits.

If you are familiar with the canon Black Knights, you should be able to guess who the Representative of Japan is in this timeline.

Finally, the ship and its crew will be examined in the next chapter, and will involve one of the other crossovers I mentioned in the last chapter. This is something I wanted to do to tie in the Student Council with the rest of the story.

Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!


	7. Forbidden Citadel

"W...W...what the hell was that?!" exclaimed Rivalz, completely unable to contain his shock.

"Lulu...what-"

"I apologize, but I can't answer your questions. _Not here, at least._"

"Lelouch," began Milly.

"Not. Here."

Milly was about to protest once more, only for Sayoko to put a hand on Milly's shoulder. Turning to face her former maid, Milly was surprised by the stern look on Sayoko's face.

"Master Lelouch and his sister need to leave right now - they have people they need to meet and _explain certain things to."_

Then, the maid turned her attention toward the rest of the student council.

"I'm certain he would also be willing to share those details with all of you, if you would follow him."

Milly opened her mouth again, only to close it after a moment of thought. Eventually, she let out a sigh.

"..Can we tag along, Lelouch?"

"I suppose so."

"Thank you. But you _will _explain this to us!"

Lelouch couldn't help but flinch at Milly's assertiveness. "O-of course."

_'I hope that Asaru won't mind all the new faces.'_

_'Already warned him, big brother. He'll manage.'_

_'Thanks, Nunnally.'_

_XXXXXXXXXX_

At the construction site, the Kozuki Resistance Cell and Prince Clovis' forces were milling about, occasionally exchanging annoyed glances, waiting for their mysterious acquaintance to arrive.

"Miss Nu, have you managed to find out anything about the unknown foes we faced earlier?" questioned Prince Clovis, uncaring of the harsh stares directed at him by the Japanese.

"No, not yet," replied the knight in question. "Oddly enough, I found some information about a similar force from...several decades prior, though."

"Wait, what?!" questioned the prince, a sentiment echoed by the rest of the gathered soldiers and former terrorists -all of them had heard the woman's statement.

"I know, suprising, but I haven't been able to access any additional information on those records - in fact, most of them appear to have been deleted. It seems someone wanted these details covered up. Why, though, eludes me."

"Well, you'll find out soon enough," replied a familiar voice.

Turning toward the source of those words, the unlikely allies found themselves staring at Lelouch.

Suzaku couldn't help but smile at his best friend, something Jeremiah and Clovis noticed. Before they could make a move, however, Suzaku put a hand on their shoulders'.

"Just wait a moment. He has something he wants to explain to us first, so let him explain."

Ohgi and his companions, however, were more focused on Kallen.

"...Kallen? Whatare you doing with all these-"

"Long story, Ohgi."

"One that can be explained later," interjected Lelouch. "Now, is everyone who was present at Shinjuku here?"

A variety of affirmations filled the air.

"Good. Now, I apologize for asking such an odd question, but could you follow me?"

"Where, exactly?" questioned Kewell.

"Into the construction site. Or, at least, what's been finished so far, seeing how we are on its outskirts."

The gathered military and resistance personnel looked at each other, then shrugged - he wasn't asking that much more of them.

"I suppose so," replied Clovis.

"Thank you. And I apologize for dragging these students along with me - circumstances conspired such that this was the most...efficient way to ensure their safety."

_"You could certainly word that better, big brother."_

_"I didn't exactly plan to bring them here with us."_

_"Fair enough."_

"So, where are we headed?" asked Ohgi.

"This building will be a new subway station. The train tunnel is actually already complete...and we have a train to catch."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Sure enough, within the tunnel, there was indeed a train waiting, albeit one unlike any the new arrivals had ever seen before.

"What the...what kind of train is this?" questioned an amazed Cecile. "I've never seen this design before."

"Going by looks I'd say it's a bullet train. Something that the Elevens have been working on for the last four years. I never thought I'd see an active one so soon."

"Well, I can assure you that this is not the most advanced thing you will be seeing, Mr. Asplund," spoke a strangely synthetic voice over the surprisingly functional intercom.

"Hello, Julian."

"Greetings, Lelouch. It appears that you have brought a larger crowd than expected today."

"Circumstances forced a change in group size."

"That was not intended to be insulting. Now, may we move on to dividing up the arrivals for transport?"

"Sure."

"Excellent. Would Prince Clovis, Lord Kewell, Lord Gottwald, Lady Nu, Private Kururugi, Kaname Ohgi, Shinichiro Tamaki, Nagisa Chiba, Takeshi Nagata, Kento Sugiyama, Toru Yoshida, and all Ashford Students please report to the front car of the train? All others, file into the other cars in an orderly fashion."

"Wait, how did you-"

"Mr. Tamaki, we are very cautious about who we allow to know of our existence, and we have both deep pockets and many allies. We made sure to research everyone who would be brought here. Now please, do as you have been told."

"...Fine."

It took about five minutes for everyone to be settled in.

"Thank you for your compliance. The train will depart shortly. I have...prepared some video assistance to help my friend explain our organization to you. Please, focus your attentions on the nearest video screen."

XXXXXXXXXX

While the rank and file did as was told, those in the front car had their attentions focused on the former prince.

"So, are you finally going to offer an explanation?" asked an uncertain Rivalz. All eyes were on the Eleventh Prince of Britannia and his sister, though Nina's occasionally darted uncomfortably toward the various Japanese that occupied the car.

"Yes. Julian, could you ready the screens?"

"Already on it. Also, Lady Dierdre has arrived on base. She would like to have a word with you."

Though barely perceptible, Lelouch and Nunnally both flinched in surprise. Those present to witness this were shocked by the display, but chose not to press the matter - there were more important topics to discuss.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Alright, then. I suppose now is the best time to explain things."

As the last word rolled off the prince's tongue, the train began to move. Many were surprised by how fast it accelerated.

Their attention soon focused on the screens, however, which now showed an old newspaper article depicting, ironically enough, a terror bombing.

"Fifty years ago, Britannia, the EU, and the Chinese Federation were all plagued by a wave of bombings done by an unknown force. In light of this event, Emperor Wilhelm ri Britannia, Prime Minister Sigrun Wolfcastle of the United Republic of Europia, and Emperor Xi Qin of the Chinese Federation created a joint military force to determine who had caused the bombings and bring them to justice. Thirty years passed, however, without the group being able to determine who perpetrated the attacks, and the force was essentially disbanded due to their lack of success."

"I presume that this ended with them finally locating those responsible for the bombings - or at least finidng evidence that closed the case," remarked Clovis.

"Somewhat - components from the initial bombings were recovered and stored at the Britannian main base for this group, which, by the time the culprits were discovered, was the last base in operation, though the staff were still from all across the world."

"It appeared that thirty years of escaping detection had given the terrorists a false sense of security, leading them to launch another bombing, this time on a Britannian natural gas power plant. This time, though, they neglected to leave the scene before they could be caught, allowing the Global Counterrorism Unit to uncover who they were. The results were...not as expected."

Before the group could ask broach a question, a new picture appeared - one of a bug eyed, grey skinned, mouthless creature, similar to ones that had been seen at Shinjuku.

"This creature, along with two others, were discovered at the bombing site. Autopsies performed on-base revealed that they were unlike any creature found on Earth...for a very simple reason."

This time, the picture was replaced by live footage of the bug eyed creature in battle...alongside what looked like a flying saucer.

"These creatures were not from Earth."

The front car fell completely silent at this, which lasted until Tamaki managed to find his voice.

"...Are you saying we're fighting _aliens?"_

Leouch merely nodded. "We are. This alien, designated a sectoid, was part of the first wave of the invasion, acting as slave troops for the true masterminds of this conflict, the Zudjari. Evidence found later in the war indicated the invaders had hoped to set off a global conflict with the bombings carried out three decades prior in an effort to weaken mankind before initiating their invasion. When their plans failed, however, they decided to wait an additional thirty years before external circumstances forced their hand. Those are not to be discussed now."

"With their forces now revealed, the aliens launched a massive attack on the public base of the unit that had discovered them: Groom Range. Those who escaped the battle retreated to the true base, where this mixture of old warriors and new recruits formed the basis of the newly rebranded Extraterrestrial Combat Unit-"

"XCOM, for short?"

"...Yes..."

"Lord Jeremiah Gottwald."

"Ah. I see. Do you have any further interruptions?"

"No. I apologise."

"Apology accepted. Now, continuing on, for this conflict, only the best would be brought into the fold of XCOM, which produced a group you might find rather surprising."

Now occupying the screen was a picture of what was presumably the first XCOM. Many were indeed surprised by who they saw amongst its number.

"Lady Marianne-"

"-Grandfather-"

"-Is that Tohdoh.-"

"To answer your question, yes, The Empress to be Marianne vi Britannia, Reuben Ashford, and Kyoshiro Tohdoh were all members of the original XCOM force, as were General Peter Van Dorn of the EU and Li Jun of the Chinese Federation. Whilst the majority of those named fought on the frontlines, Sir Ashford assisted Doctors Alan Weir and Heinrich Dresner in developing advances needed to emerge victorious in the war. including the first knightmare frame, designed based upon enemy combat walkers."

"...How did you win?" questioned Suzaku.

"Ultimately, we were able to kill of the leader of the invading forces, Origin. As he had essentially enslaved his entire species via a network of cybernetic implants known as Mosaic, his armies immediately sued for peace once free."

Any further questions were put on hold as the train finally reached its destination. Those who looked out the window were amazed to find themselves in what could best be described as a high tech loading dock, surrounded by drones and workers busy moving supplies to various decks.

"I do believe that is the end of our ride. Please exit through the doors on the left side of the train."

Obliging, the group found themselves greeted by a middle aged pair - one a man, the other a woman. Better descriptors beyond both having grey hair, though, were non-existent.

"Greetings, Lelouch," spoke the man.

"Former Director Faulke, it's a pleasure to see you."

"Pleasure is all mine, kid."

"And Deirdre, it's good to see you-Mmph!"

Whatever the prince had desired to say was cut off as the now named Lady Deirdre pulled the prince into a hug, one that was swiftly joined by his sister, who was assisted by Sayoko.

"It's been a month and you have sent me so much as a message. What would your father say?"

"Do you think I will listen to him?"

"...True, he was a jerk."

"Ahem."

Deirdre turned to look at Kallen, who had just cleared her throat.

"My apologies, but who are you?"

"Ah, where are my manners. I am Deirdre Faulke, Myron's wife...and Lelouch and Nunnally's paternal aunt."

Unnoticed to everyone else, Suzaku, Jeremiah, Milly, and Clovis blinked three times in succession before staring in shock at the woman.

"...So you're full name would be Deirdre Faulke, nee Lamperouge."

Deirdre simply gave her nephew a funny look, before turning to look at the red head.

"No. Lamperouge was my nephew's mother's name. I am Lady Deirdre Faulke, nee di Britannia."

All assembled froze up when they heard those words.

"... Wiat, so you're-"

"Lelouch vi Britannia, eleventh prince of Britannia, seventeenth in line for the throne, at your service."

Through all of that, Lelouch couldn't help but look embarrassed.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

**AN: It lives!**

**Alright, some quick stuff before I collapse from lack of sleep:**

**Deirdre was a character I had planned out months ago - she's Charles' half sister. V.V. and Charles never figured out what happened to her after Charles took the throne.**

**Forbidden Citadel is the codename for XCOM Global HQ.**

**Having Tohdoh and Van Dorn be members of the Bureau was something I intended from the beginning.**

**As for Jeremiah, XCOM scouted him as a potential member and let him in on their existence, but he turned down the initial offer. This will be elaborated upon next chapter. If I get there.**

**Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!**


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